Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30519662›Full record

ArticleHeliyon2018

Influenza vaccination discourse in major Canadian news media, 2017-2018.

Blake Murdoch, Timothy Caulfield

Open access · goldAbstract readNews
In one paragraph

Article in Heliyon, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 36% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Blake MurdochHealth Law Institute, University of Alberta Faculty of Law, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Timothy CaulfieldHealth Law Institute, University of Alberta Faculty of Law, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
University of Alberta · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Influenza vaccine uptake is less-than-ideal in many jurisdictions, including Canada. In this study we sought to assess news articles relating to influenza vaccination by major Canadian newspapers during a six-month period relatively congruent to the seasonal influenza outbreak for 2017-2018. We identified 116 unique articles published between August 16, 2017 and February 15, 2018, then developed and applied a coding frame to them. Influenza vaccination was portrayed primarily positively (74.14%), sometimes negatively (14.66%), and occasionally neutrally (11.21%). Articles were most commonly focused on news about the prevalence, or amount of harm/death caused by, the influenza virus (31.03%), or on public announcements primarily concerning influenza vaccination (17.24%). Benefits of influenza vaccination were often stated (59.48%), most commonly including reduction in disease (47.41%) and protection of vulnerable individuals (26.72%). Issues or problems with influenza vaccination were also often stated (55.17%), most commonly relating to low or non-effectiveness of the vaccine (43.10%). Most articles stated that people should get vaccinated (65.52%). Canadian newspaper articles generally support the scientific consensus that influenza vaccination is a highly positive intervention. Nonetheless, a clear picture of the true value of influenza vaccination may sometimes be missing in articles focusing on low effectiveness and lacking any mention of vaccination's positive value. Overall, we can reasonably conclude that, in Canada, misinformation and antivaccination rhetoric are coming primarily from sources other than newspapers.

Indexed as

Public healthVaccines

Identifiers

PMID30519662
PMCPMC6260240
OpenAlexW2903180310

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.